180 Paper Cranes
by Azul Diablo
Summary: It's Todd's Birthday, and no one knows about it. One of Pietro's jokes goes too far, causing Todd to storm out. Can one of the Brotherhood piece things together? Or was Todd better off on the streets? Please Read and review! milde violance.
1. Chapter 1

**180 Paper Cranes**

**Chapter 1**

_Though I use two minor characters, I hope someone will have the understanding to read the story and give me some feedback on it through reviewing or Pming me. Please tell me what I can improve on this story, because I really really want to know what I can do. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy this story about 180 Paper Cranes._

Toad sighed as he opened the tattered journal, ready to make another entry to his memoirs that no one would ever read. The pencil he was using was short, and broken. The led kept falling out, forcing Todd to search the wreck of the house to find a pencil sharpener. But once back in his room with the door closed, he opened his journal and began to write...

_Day 211 living with the brotherhood,_

_Its my birthday and no one knows, and I doubt any of them would even care if I told them. Its not like I'm complainin or nothin, Its just that I thought things would be different here, ya know dawg? I thought that now I have... I guess I can call them friends, that somehow my life would be better. But I guess no one cares about us freaks... even us freaks. I'm pretty sure I smell something burning, which means that Freddy is up by now, so I guess I'd better put my journal away before anyone walks in, no one has privacy in this old house, not even..._

But before Todd could finish the sentence, he felt a cool breeze rush past him, as the door to his room swung open. With a gasp Todd snapped his journal shut, not wanting Pietro to see it. He knew he would get hassled the rest of his life if one of the other guys found out about his journal.

As Todd went to slid the notebook between the dingy old mattress and the floor, the gust of wind whipped past him again, This time dislodging the journal from his hands. "Pietro!!! Give it back!" Todd demanded as Pietro leaned up against the doorframe, the journal opened to a random page.

"What's this wart?" Pietro laughed, flipping the pages pretending to read them. "Is it your diary? Are you a little girly?"

Todd glared daggers into Pietro, knowing full well that he'd never get the journal back from him even if he tried. "Give it back, Dawg!" Todd ordered, knowing full well that Pietro wouldn't listen, but it was worth a try.

Pietro flashed him one of his smart-ass smiles as he dangled the journal just out of Todd's reach. "Not till you tell me what's in the notebook!" He taunted.

Todd clenched his hands, attempting not to spring at Pietro and strangle him with his bare hands. He had to think fast if he had any chance of retrieving his notebook. "It's a project for school!" Todd lied. "For English!"

Pietro just grinned at Todd, a menacing look on his creepishly joyful face. "Hmm... when did YOU ever become interested in your school work?" He asked, flipping through the book once again, all the while Todd attempting to look calm. "I don't think you care about your work."

Todd just heaved a sigh. "So what if I don't, man?" He asked. "Its still possible for me to do an assignment now and again!"

Pietro grinned evilly at Todd as he turned to the back of the notebook and proceeded to tear a page out. "Then you wouldn't mind if I did this...?" Slowly Pietro began to fold it into a bird.

Todd watched in horror, not knowing how to respond to this torment. "Dawg! This ain't funny!" He pleaded. "Give it back!"

Pietro raised an eyebrow at Todd, knowing full well of the torment he was putting Todd through. Slowly he tore another page from the book, watching Todd squirm as he folded it once again in to a paper crane. "Really? It's not?" He asked with a grin. "I think its really funny."

With that, Todd launched himself at Pietro, attempting to grab the book from him. But his attempts were futile as Pietro whipped into a running frenzy, zipping around the room, cackling all the while. As Todd watched in horror, his entire notebook was transformed into dozens upon dozens of paper birds that slowly drifted to the floor in Pietro's wake.

Once every piece of paper had been transformed into a paper crane, Pietro stopped in front of Todd, giving him a smirk as he placed the empty covers of the notebook on his head. That was the last straw for Todd as he launched himself at Pietro, knocking him to the floor. "NOT funny, Yo!" Todd screamed in rage, as he laid a good hard punch to Pietro's pretty face. "You Didn't need to do that! That was uncalled for Dawg!"

Pietro gingerly touched the reddening spot on his cheek as he grinned up at Todd. "It was only an assignment, why get so worked up about it?" He laughed, knowing full well what it had been.

In a split second Toad found himself on his back amidst the paper cranes that had been his journal only moments before. Rage built up in him as he dusted himself off and threw his hands in the air. "That's IT!" He screamed. "I don't need this!"


	2. Redemption

**Please Please PLEASE send me a review, I would really really appreciate it! **

**Chapter 2**

With that Todd hopped down the hall and took the entire flight of stairs in one leap, landing inches away from the front door. "Hey Todd!" He heard Fred greet from behind him. "I cooked up some eggs for breakfast, You want some?"

Todd just crouched there, his hand on the doorknob, not wanting to talk in case he ended up yelling at him. "Todd? Did you hear me?" Fred asked in his usual cheery tone. "Are you alright? Where'ya going?"

Todd turned to look at Fred to explain he was going out, but before he could even open his mouth, Pietro appeared next to Fred. Todd gave a low growl as Pietro nonchalantly leaned up against Freddy, a harmless grin on his face. "I wouldn't talk to him right now Big Man." He said, grinning at Todd. "Todd got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, didn't ya Wart?"

Freddy just had a clueless look on his face as Todd opened his mouth, about to yell at Pietro, but quickly decided against it, knowing he'd only make his day even worse than it already was. Without another word Todd opened the door and walked out into the crisp fall day.

"I just need a walk, I need fresh air, okay Dawgs?" Todd called back, then under his breath he muttered. "And I need to KILL Pietro when I get back."

Todd wandered around Bayville, attempting to get a grip on his emotions. "It was only a stupid journal! It didn't mean anything!" He attempted to convince himself. "At least Pietro didn't read it."

Todd was in such a fuzzy mind that he didn't notice Kurt and Scott walking up the same street towards him until they were right in front of him. Todd just glared at them. "Ver's your buddies Toad?" Kurt jested.

Todd just growled as he pushed passed them. "NOT in the mood today, Dawg!" He shouted back at them.

Todd wandered around for hours, even though he had cooled his head off 30 minutes after the experience. He just didn't want to go back to the house and face the torment he knew would face him from Pietro. As the sun started to set, Todd found himself at sitting on the amphitheater stage, thinking about nothing in particular.

He heaved a sigh as the chilly wind whipped his cloths around, sending cold chills down his spine. Suddenly he wished he had brought a sweater or something. "But I couldn't be that smart, now could I?" Todd beat himself. "Why did I think life would be different here?"

As the sunset turned to dark starry sky, Todd plucked a small yellow flower from the ground nearby and started to absentmindedly pull it apart, piece by piece. Todd heaved a sigh as he drew his knees up to his chest. "Happy birthday to me... Happy birthday to me..." Todd sang to himself, his eyes glazing over.

Todd flopped down onto his back as the tears rolled down his dirty cheeks. He attempted to think of something happy to make himself stop crying, but found he couldn't think of anything, which made him all the more sad. The tears were falling freely from his eyes when he heard heavy footfall coming towards him. "You shouldn't be crying on your birthday you know." Freddy's deep voice said softly as he took a seat next to Todd, setting down his backpack next to him.

Todd attempted to wipe the tears from his face. "I ain't crying Dawg." Todd stated, then turned to look up at Freddy quizzically. "Why are you here anyway?"

Freddy just shook his head in disbelief. "No one should be alone on their birthday." He stated, pulling a small package of cupcakes and handed one to Todd and took one for himself.

After the Cupcake was finished, Todd turned to Freddy with a smile. "Thanks Big Guy. You have no idea how much this helped." He said. "How did you know anyway?"

Freddy just flashed Todd a smile. "A little birdy told me." He whispered as he placed something small and light on Todd's head.

Todd turned a deep shade of red as he realized what it was. He quickly snatched it from his head and stowed the journal entry away in his pocket. "You read them?" He asked embarrassed.

It was Freddy's turn to blush as he gave a small laugh. "Well, I was cleaning them up... and I was curious." He explained himself.

There were a few moments of silence before Freddy returned to digging in his bag. "I got somethin for you." He said, holding out a brand new journal in Todd's favorite color, green.

Todd's eyes widened at this as his shaking hands took it from Freddy's hands. "Man... I've never gotten a birthday present before... not since I was a kid!" Todd said. "You REALLY didn't need to do this, yo!"

Freddy gave shrug as Todd fondled the new journal. "It was nothin." He stated nonchalantly. "Why didn't you tell us about your birthday? I bet Pietro would have been a little nicer to you."

Todd just looked down at his feet, a faint blush creeping to his cheeks. "I dunno, I guess I thought you guys wouldn't care." He said truthfully. "No one's ever cared before."

Freddy looked at Todd with mild shock. "You thought we wouldn't care?!" He laughed, grabbing Todd into a hug. "We're family, of course we'd care!"

Todd gave a smile, something that was rare, something that made Freddy grin as he tossed Todd another cupcake. Todd took it, but didn't eat it, he just stared at it. "Where'd you get the money for this Dawg?" He asked in confusion, looking up at Freddy.

Freddy just grinned at him for a couple seconds. "I thought Pietro owed you in some way." He stated. "His safe ain't that well made. One smack and BOOM its open."


End file.
